Railway-crossing signal



L. A. LAWHEAD.

RAILWAY CROSSING SIGNAL.

APPLICATION man JULY 6. 1920.

Patented June 6,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

' t p- R avwewl'oz LHL HWHEHIL L. A. LAWHEAD.

RAILWAY CROSSING SIGNAL. APPLlCATlON mm mm s, 1920.

Patented June 6, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Lns'rnn A. nnwnnnn, or six. Josnrn, MISSOURI.

RAILWAY-CROSSING SIGNAL.

iniaeeo.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. July 6, 1920. Serial No. 394,166.

To all to 7mm it may concern Be it known that I, Lns'rnn A. LAWLLEAD,

a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Joseph, in the county of Buchanan and State of Missouri, have invented (new and useful Improvements in Railway-Crossing Signals, of which the following. is a specification.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in railway crossing signals and more particularly to those adapted for use at highway crossings or'the like.

An object of this invention is to provide a device of the character described which will be automaticallyoperated by the approaching train, thus giving warning of the approach of the train to vehicles upon the highway in'due time to permit said vehicles to wait until the train passes before attempting to cross the track.

Another object oft-his invention is the provision of a signal, as hereinafter described, especially adapted for use in connection with single track railways and so con structed to permit the operation of said signal by a train traveling in either direction upon said? track,

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a signal adapted for single track railways that will permit the passage of a train from either direction, giving warning automatically of its approach, through the medium of a plurality of treads and automatically resetting itself without the need of additional levers or the like.

With the above and other objects in view,

thisinventionresides in the novel features comblnation,

of construction, formation, and arangement of parts to be hereinafter fully described, claimed and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a sketch of single track illustrating my invention applied.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of one of the rails taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

illustrating in elevation the application of one of the treads'thereto.

Fig. 3 is a perspective viewof the rocker arm, which carries the tread.

Fig. t is an enlarged side elevation of the parts of the road-bed removed and parts of the signal post broken away to illustrate clearly in elevation the parts which otherwise would 'be concealed. i

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view through the lower portion out, the numerals 10 and 11 denote treads,

each of which are provided with shoulders 12 below which, at a suitable distance, they are plvotal'ly connected as at 13 to a rocker arm 14. This rocker arm Iahas a suitableoflset portion 15 formed integral therewith to permit the treads '10 and 11 to operate freely without contacting with the head of the rail 16.

Passing through the rail16 from the op posite side to that of the treads 10 and 11 is a draw bar 17 having a shoulder 18 Patented June 6, 1922.

formed integral therewith to limit its further passage therethrough, and is illustrated by the drawings, this draw bar 17 is to be substituted for one of the customary bolts 18' ordinarily used to secure the fisher plates 19 in place to make a joint between two rails. One endof this draw bar 17 supports thereon the rocker arm 14- wh-ich is held against displacement by the nut 20 while the opposite end thereof is offset as at 21 to engage a cable 22.

This cable 22 is suitably housed in a tub ing 23 of any suitable construction, laid a suitable distance below the surface of the earth or road bed and passes through to a signal post 24 composed of any suitable material with an anchor plate 25 formed integral therewith at the lower end thereof.

This signal post is substantially located, as illustrated by the drawings, a suitable distance from the railway track 26 at the side of a highway 27 and has pivot-ally- 29, one end of which engage the cable 22,-

while their opposite ends engage flexible cables or the like 30. These levers 28 and 29 are held against longitudinal movement upon their supports 31 by washers 32 and cotter pins 33, and likewise the supports 31 are held, againstlongitudinal movement by cotter pins 34. Thus, it will be readily seen that a free movement of said levers 28 and 29 is assured as desired, and that the undesired horizontal movement is limited.

The flexible cables or the like 30 are engaged at a suitable distance from the ends that engage the levers 28 and 29, by coil springs 85, suitably supported by a crossrod 36 centrally and horizontally secured within said signal post 24, while the opposite ends of said flexible cables engage substantially the inner end of a signal arm 36 pivotally secured to the outside of said signal post between brackets 37 and 38, below which is substantially secured a bell 39, which will be sounded upon each down.- ward stroke of the signal arm 36 through the medium of a bumper 40 carried thereby.

The operation of this device is simple and as follows:

By referring to Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings, it will be readily understood that a train traveling in the direction of the arrows will first pass over the tread l1, and in so doing the flange of each wheel will first engage the tread 11 as indicated by the circle and tread shown in dotted lines,

then as it passes thereover it will force downwardly the tread 11, as clearly illustrated by the wheel indicated in full lines by the letter A, this movement of said tread as shown in full lines forces the rocker arm 14 ina downward direction, which being connected substantially with the draw bar 17, moves the offset end 21 thereof in an upward direction, thus drawing the cable connected therewith through its housing, said cable being connected by levers to a second flexible cable, which in turn is connected at its opposite end to the signal arm 36 will cause said arm to be raised to a horizontal position, as illus' trated by this view; then as the wheel passes over and clears the tread, the arm will drop by gravity, all slack in the flexible cables from its point of connection with the coil spring, being taken care of by said coil spring until the next set of wheels are pass ing over said tread; then the same operation is repeated, thus warning vehicles upon the crossing thoroughfare in due time that a train is approaching and tolling the warning at every drop of the signal arm through the medium of the bell.

After the entire train has passed the road way the wheels thereof will engage at a suitable distance up the track from the signal post the tread 10 which being pivotally secured to the rocker arm will swing upon its pivot. upon contact with each of said wheels, a suflicient distance to clear the flange there of so as to permit the wheels to pass thereover without operating the signal arm.

Trains traveling in the opposite direction will operate the signal in the same manner by engaging the tread 10 first, the tread 11 will then be engaged and being pivotally secured to the rocker arm will swing upon its pivot until its shoulder 12 comes in contact with the rocker arm and when in this position the flange of the wheel will have forced the tread 11 around on its pivot sufficient to permit said wheel to pass thereover without imparting sufiicient pressure to the rocker arm to draw the cable connected therewith enough to operate the signal arm. It is to be remembered that the tread 10 operates in a like manner when a train is traveling in the opposite direction thus providing a signal,- ing device especially adapted for single track railways.

In connection with the above, it will be noted that these treads are constructed and so arranged that they may be operated by trains from either direction, but that only one of said traeds will operate the signal arm, and that tread is the first tread crossed by the train in its direction of travel, the other tread remaining neutral. Thus it is to be understood that the treads and their cooperating parts are all that is provided to operate this signal and that the same are so applied to the rail so that repairs thereto may be readily made; likewise, the signal post is provided with suitable doors 4:1 to permit repairing of any parts inclosed with in said post.

The above description and operation of this device, together with the accompanying drawings is thought to be sufficient to enable those familiar with this art to readily understand the construction, operation and man advantages of this invention. It should be understood, however, in this connection, that various minor changes in the details of construction may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

From the foregoing disclosure, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be manifest that I have provided a railway crossing signal, especially adapted for use where a railway crosses a highway,

which is simple in construction and opera tion, and which will fulfill all of the necessary requirements of such a device.

Having thus fully described this invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is l. A signal comprising a post, a movable signal arm secured thereto, a plurality of treads substantially secured to a rail, means connecting each of said treads with the signal arm, a warning signal secured to said post, a member carried by the movable signal arm and adapted to engage at intervals said warning signal, and means for permitting the independent operation of each of said treads.

2. A, signal comprising a post, amovable cable engaging each of said movable levers,

a tread connected with each of said cables, and means for permitting the indpendent 1O operation of each of said treads as means for moving said movable arm.

LESTER A. LAWHEAD. 

